Am I the only person who would rather fashion a meal out of crackers and mustard than go to the grocery store? Yesterday we cleaned the house (including mopping 2000 square feet of tile) and collapsed in front of the tv to rest. About 3 oclock Mike turned to me and said "What's for dinner?"
I had nothing thawed, no lunch meat or bread, not even any cereal as a back-up! Now, creative cooks can grab herbs and spaghetti and whip something up out of that. Not me. I am NOT a creative cook...or any KIND of cook for that matter. I have a limited number of dishes I can produce...and yesterday I didn't have the ingredients for any of them.
Soooo, the obvious choice is get up, get out of the pajamas I cleaned the house in, wash my hair, put on some clothes and go to the store. Right? Not gonna happen. As we all know, traffic is nuts, people are driving like they are on crack, the lines are long and the parking lots are crazy. I had already battled all of that on Saturday. You need at least one day without the madness, right?
So I figured, Mom eats her own stuff because of issues with her health. Rachel is working nights now and is not home for dinner. Mike would have to feed himself! That was okay with him. He knew I would make him go to the store with me...and he didn't want to get out of his camo jammies either.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
A Real Date!!
I have a date tonight! A real date! Usually, Mike and I consider the weekly trip to Wal-Mart as our date night. It started out as a joke but, sadly, became almost the only night out we ever have! So, as we are in town this weekend, we have decided to catch a double feature at the drive-in movies!
Mike and I are pretty casual so we don't dress up unless we are forced to at gun point. And, at the drive-in you can even wear your jammies if you want to (and don't plan to visit the concession stand.) Of course we don't wear our jammies because Mike likes to go in and get a Chihuahua. So for the entire movie the truck smells like onions. Could be worse.
We remember the very distant past when you had to hang the tinny sounding speaker from your window, and keep moving around the lot until you found one that worked! Now it is all so easy! Great stereo sound, big windshield, the privacy of your vehicle. This is truly an invention from the country that created the whole "car culture". I love sitting in the relative coziness of our truck, talking out loud if we want to, not having to worry about someones cell phone or the two girls behind you that won't shut up.
But the best part of Date Night is getting to spend time alone with Mike. You would think that we get enough time together. We are usually with each other 24/7. But as much fun as working with him is...NOT working with him is even more fun because we still make each other laugh! We talk about the kids, the past, the future and everything else. Mike is, even after 21 years of marriage, the person I most want to be with. And I am always thankful that I have such an amazing friend.
Mike and I are pretty casual so we don't dress up unless we are forced to at gun point. And, at the drive-in you can even wear your jammies if you want to (and don't plan to visit the concession stand.) Of course we don't wear our jammies because Mike likes to go in and get a Chihuahua. So for the entire movie the truck smells like onions. Could be worse.
We remember the very distant past when you had to hang the tinny sounding speaker from your window, and keep moving around the lot until you found one that worked! Now it is all so easy! Great stereo sound, big windshield, the privacy of your vehicle. This is truly an invention from the country that created the whole "car culture". I love sitting in the relative coziness of our truck, talking out loud if we want to, not having to worry about someones cell phone or the two girls behind you that won't shut up.
But the best part of Date Night is getting to spend time alone with Mike. You would think that we get enough time together. We are usually with each other 24/7. But as much fun as working with him is...NOT working with him is even more fun because we still make each other laugh! We talk about the kids, the past, the future and everything else. Mike is, even after 21 years of marriage, the person I most want to be with. And I am always thankful that I have such an amazing friend.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Finding A Treasure
Mike and I used to go "junking" a lot. We loved finding "just the thing" for this room or that room. However, we now have two homes stuffed with furniture so we stopped. Yesterday, we got a wild hair and went over to Habitat Restore to see if there was something we could rescue. I love Restore. If you want cabinet hardware, sinks, doors, shutters, tile, etc. it is the place to visit!! However, it was like re-visiting my past through decorating. Lots of pinks, greens, taupe and plaid. It made me realize how completely colors, metals, woods, countertops and appliance colors go out of style. There were a lot of gold lighting fixtures as the style now is brushed nickel or bronze. Someday, they will also be out of style.
Anyway, we moved on to Joseph's at Wadley and Midkiff. I have collected Fiesta Ware for over 20 years and I am always looking. Joseph had some pieces there that I thought were mythical. Sometimes it is enough to just go and look at beautiful things from the past. Fiesta does for me exactly what it was designed to do during the Great Depression. It cheers me up. The colors and design are so bright and fun you can't help but smile when you see it.
Then we spotted an old cedar chest we thought we could use as a blanket chest. It was a real find at a great price and we snapped it up. It is just a simple cedar chest from the 40's that needs a little love but will always be more special than something new. The best part is that Mike and I went somewhere other than Wal-Mart together. It was fun to go looking for a treasure together and finding one we both loved. Hopefully, when we get it to the cabin, we won't have to carry it up the mountain...
Anyway, we moved on to Joseph's at Wadley and Midkiff. I have collected Fiesta Ware for over 20 years and I am always looking. Joseph had some pieces there that I thought were mythical. Sometimes it is enough to just go and look at beautiful things from the past. Fiesta does for me exactly what it was designed to do during the Great Depression. It cheers me up. The colors and design are so bright and fun you can't help but smile when you see it.
Then we spotted an old cedar chest we thought we could use as a blanket chest. It was a real find at a great price and we snapped it up. It is just a simple cedar chest from the 40's that needs a little love but will always be more special than something new. The best part is that Mike and I went somewhere other than Wal-Mart together. It was fun to go looking for a treasure together and finding one we both loved. Hopefully, when we get it to the cabin, we won't have to carry it up the mountain...
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Learning Your Lessons!
I wrote yesterday about the crazy weekend we had at the cabin. Today, I write about the lessons learned from that weekend. First, newest isn't always bestest! I bought "chains" for our 4 wheel drive Tundra so that we could get up the steep 100 yard slope to our cabin in the snow. I did my research. All the reviews said these "chains" were easy to put on and worked perfectly. They were neither. We parked at the bottom of the hill after many attempts to go up. The "chains" were broken and worthless. They were really cables with metal rings on them and they were really complicated to put on. They went into the dumpster on Sunday!
While we were struggling with our truck we stood aside to watch a neighbor with REAL chains on all four tires just drive up the hill without sliding even once! So, when I got home on Sunday I ordered real, old fashioned tire chains. Lesson learned.
Second, we rarely go to the cabin without taking some stuff with us. Groceries, canned goods, dishes, furniture, etc. This time it was all those things! We decided to replace an old recliner with a chair and ottoman (my preferance over a recliner) and we had it with us in the truck. So, on Saturday we had to get that chair up the hill. During that difficult and exhausting process it actually struck me that Mike and I are not spring chickens anymore. At 8000 feet the air is thin and catching your breath is tough! I actually worried that one or both of us could have a heart attack right there on the hill below our cabin!
So, I have resolved to get into better shape. I have also decided that whatever furniture is at the cabin, stays there and we will add no more to it! This was the SECOND piece of furniture that we have humped up that hill in the snow over the last 5 years. The first was a couch that is NEVER leaving the cabin!
While we were struggling with our truck we stood aside to watch a neighbor with REAL chains on all four tires just drive up the hill without sliding even once! So, when I got home on Sunday I ordered real, old fashioned tire chains. Lesson learned.
Second, we rarely go to the cabin without taking some stuff with us. Groceries, canned goods, dishes, furniture, etc. This time it was all those things! We decided to replace an old recliner with a chair and ottoman (my preferance over a recliner) and we had it with us in the truck. So, on Saturday we had to get that chair up the hill. During that difficult and exhausting process it actually struck me that Mike and I are not spring chickens anymore. At 8000 feet the air is thin and catching your breath is tough! I actually worried that one or both of us could have a heart attack right there on the hill below our cabin!
So, I have resolved to get into better shape. I have also decided that whatever furniture is at the cabin, stays there and we will add no more to it! This was the SECOND piece of furniture that we have humped up that hill in the snow over the last 5 years. The first was a couch that is NEVER leaving the cabin!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Weird Weekend!
This weekend was one for the books (or the blog!) First, we did not expect to go back up to the cabin so soon after the holidays but it was a free weekend, our daughter wanted to go up and as that is a fairly rare occurance we jumped at the opportunity.
By the time we got there late Friday afternoon, it had just stopped snowing. The truck was not going up our hill in the snow, even in 4 wheel drive. So we ended up hiking everything up the hill to the cabin. It was about 35 degrees inside the cabin so it took awhile to warm up. We were going to light the big, old, wood-burning stove in the corner of the kitchen but we heard a bird fluttering in the stove pipe. Not an unusual happening. Every year we fish a dead bird out of that old stove.
So, Saturday night we were watching tv and Mike gets up and goes over to that old stove in the kitchen and opens the door. And standing there is a little bird (a junco) covered in ash and scared. Mike just reached in and carefully held the poor little thing. He let it go outside and it flew up to the tree tops. We were all so relieved it was alive!! Rachel baked a celebratory cake! We were enjoying our cake, watching tv again when Rachel screams "Bat!!!" and dives under her blanket. Yes, there was a bat flying around inside the cabin. We have no idea how it got in but Rachel and I were not going to stop screaming OR come out from under blankets until it was gone.
Mike finished his cake calmly. Then got up, got a container, waited for the bat to land on the curtain and captured it. He took it outside and let it fly away. It sure got the dogs excited!
Then on Sunday, Mike lost his phone while throwing away the trash on the way out of the canyon. Fortunately, a lovely couple found it and is sending it to him today. What a weekend!! How was yours?
By the time we got there late Friday afternoon, it had just stopped snowing. The truck was not going up our hill in the snow, even in 4 wheel drive. So we ended up hiking everything up the hill to the cabin. It was about 35 degrees inside the cabin so it took awhile to warm up. We were going to light the big, old, wood-burning stove in the corner of the kitchen but we heard a bird fluttering in the stove pipe. Not an unusual happening. Every year we fish a dead bird out of that old stove.
So, Saturday night we were watching tv and Mike gets up and goes over to that old stove in the kitchen and opens the door. And standing there is a little bird (a junco) covered in ash and scared. Mike just reached in and carefully held the poor little thing. He let it go outside and it flew up to the tree tops. We were all so relieved it was alive!! Rachel baked a celebratory cake! We were enjoying our cake, watching tv again when Rachel screams "Bat!!!" and dives under her blanket. Yes, there was a bat flying around inside the cabin. We have no idea how it got in but Rachel and I were not going to stop screaming OR come out from under blankets until it was gone.
Mike finished his cake calmly. Then got up, got a container, waited for the bat to land on the curtain and captured it. He took it outside and let it fly away. It sure got the dogs excited!
Then on Sunday, Mike lost his phone while throwing away the trash on the way out of the canyon. Fortunately, a lovely couple found it and is sending it to him today. What a weekend!! How was yours?
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The Fun, The Presents...The Smells!!
Ahhh Christmas. It was great this year at our house! A new daughter-in-law, soldier boy home for two weeks, a little more time with our oldest son and his wife all added up to a great holiday.
However, when they all left the cabin on the Saturday after Christmas, Mike and I were left with the mess, the trash...and the smell! I literally spent the whole day Saturday cleaning up. Mike took 13 bags of trash to the compactor down the canyon! Then he escaped to Alamogordo to do some food replenishing (boy, can they all EAT) and I put Christmas away, stripped beds, found left behind socks, did a LOT of laundry and collapsed.
When Mike got home we vacuumed, mopped and re-arranged the furniture back to the pre-Christmas arrangement, missing the kids the whole time. However, we did reflect on a few things. First, no amount of potpourri, candles, Febreeze or those little waxy-melty things could overpower the smell of feet (among other things) in the cabin.
Second, when do boys stop smelling? Our sons are now in their 20's...so when do they start smelling good? Mike smells good all the time. We are pretty sure that about the time our boys start to smell good, they will have babies and we start all over with the smell! The girls were just as messy but they smelled better.
We sat in our quiet, clean cabin (that smelled faintly of Fabuloso) on Saturday night, reflected on the events of the week, missed our kids and relaxed. Another Christmas is over, the New Year has begun and we are praying yours is fantastic!
However, when they all left the cabin on the Saturday after Christmas, Mike and I were left with the mess, the trash...and the smell! I literally spent the whole day Saturday cleaning up. Mike took 13 bags of trash to the compactor down the canyon! Then he escaped to Alamogordo to do some food replenishing (boy, can they all EAT) and I put Christmas away, stripped beds, found left behind socks, did a LOT of laundry and collapsed.
When Mike got home we vacuumed, mopped and re-arranged the furniture back to the pre-Christmas arrangement, missing the kids the whole time. However, we did reflect on a few things. First, no amount of potpourri, candles, Febreeze or those little waxy-melty things could overpower the smell of feet (among other things) in the cabin.
Second, when do boys stop smelling? Our sons are now in their 20's...so when do they start smelling good? Mike smells good all the time. We are pretty sure that about the time our boys start to smell good, they will have babies and we start all over with the smell! The girls were just as messy but they smelled better.
We sat in our quiet, clean cabin (that smelled faintly of Fabuloso) on Saturday night, reflected on the events of the week, missed our kids and relaxed. Another Christmas is over, the New Year has begun and we are praying yours is fantastic!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
They Did It!!
Mike and the boys (Eric and Adam) made plans before Christmas to go camping sometime during the holidays at the cabin. And they did it!!
We all went to lunch at the Lodge in Cloudcroft (a Christmas tradition that I personally LOVE!!) and then made a trip "down the hill" to Alamogordo for a day-after-Christmas trip through Wal-Mart for groceries and a few items for the camping trip.
By the time we got back up to the cabin, the sun was beginning to go behind the mountain. They packed up in a hurry and headed up the mountain. The girls and I noticed they forgot matches, flashlights and toilet paper. Also, they left one of the adult sleeping bags behind and accidentally took the old kids bag with the smiley face on it (designed for sleep-overs, not sub-zero temperatures.)
We girls settled down in the warm cabin with new Kindles and some lovely wine.
The next day, I drove up to pick them up at the appointed time. I found three frozen men who were so desperate for a hot bath and a warm bed that they could barely speak. But the story did come out. They found a semi-flat surface in the dark. Set up tents, started a campfire, ate the military MRE's that Eric brought them for dinner and decided at 9pm that it was time to turn in. That's when the fun started, they said.
First, snow is unforgiving. Soft at first, then it becomes ice. And even on a very gradual slope, that ice becomes a tent-luge. All night long they fought the tent, sleeping bags, cold, wind and "something" walking around outside in the snow that kinda freaked them out.
When all is said and done, the one thing Adam and Eric were most impressed by was that Mike urinated his name in the snow. It was actually the first thing the boys told me when they got into the truck. Adam said the "M" was perfect! I am left wondering if he wrote "Mike" or "Michael". I am not going to ask.
We all went to lunch at the Lodge in Cloudcroft (a Christmas tradition that I personally LOVE!!) and then made a trip "down the hill" to Alamogordo for a day-after-Christmas trip through Wal-Mart for groceries and a few items for the camping trip.
By the time we got back up to the cabin, the sun was beginning to go behind the mountain. They packed up in a hurry and headed up the mountain. The girls and I noticed they forgot matches, flashlights and toilet paper. Also, they left one of the adult sleeping bags behind and accidentally took the old kids bag with the smiley face on it (designed for sleep-overs, not sub-zero temperatures.)
We girls settled down in the warm cabin with new Kindles and some lovely wine.
The next day, I drove up to pick them up at the appointed time. I found three frozen men who were so desperate for a hot bath and a warm bed that they could barely speak. But the story did come out. They found a semi-flat surface in the dark. Set up tents, started a campfire, ate the military MRE's that Eric brought them for dinner and decided at 9pm that it was time to turn in. That's when the fun started, they said.
First, snow is unforgiving. Soft at first, then it becomes ice. And even on a very gradual slope, that ice becomes a tent-luge. All night long they fought the tent, sleeping bags, cold, wind and "something" walking around outside in the snow that kinda freaked them out.
When all is said and done, the one thing Adam and Eric were most impressed by was that Mike urinated his name in the snow. It was actually the first thing the boys told me when they got into the truck. Adam said the "M" was perfect! I am left wondering if he wrote "Mike" or "Michael". I am not going to ask.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)